Speech recognition is the conversion of speech signals into words. During speech recognition, the speech signals are compared to one or more models to identify the words that may have been spoken.
In general, speech recognition is a probabilistic technique that attempts to identify a sequence of phonetic units that provides the highest probability for the speech signal. Many recognition systems not only identify the most likely sequence of words, but also identify less likely yet possible alternative sequences of words that may be represented by the speech signal.
Even the best speech recognition systems occasionally recognize the wrong word. Currently, applications that rely on speech recognition provide ways in which users can correct these errors. For example, one simple technique has the user select the word that is in error using an input device and then type in the correct word.
Another error correction technique has the user select the word using a speech command. The application then provides a list of alternative words that were returned by the speech recognition engine as being likely alternatives to the most likely word that was recognized. In one such system, each alternative word is associated with a number such that the user can select the word by speaking the number.
In order for such a correction scheme to work, the word that the user wanted must appear in the list of alternatives. If the recognition system does not produce the wanted word as an alternative this correction scheme could not be used to make the correction.
Another way for a user to correct words is to select the word that is in error and then simply redictate the word they wanted. This correction process works well if the speech recognition system is able to recognize the word when it is pronounced again. However, many times the speech recognition engine will misidentify the word again and replace the selected word with another word that is wrong. This will require further redictation by the user and can frustrate users.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.